Connecting rails



J. C. H. LUBKEN.

CONNECTING RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 12. 1919.

1,37%,381. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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JOHN c. n. LUZBKEN, or wiisrMoNT soaor en, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONNECTING RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed'December 12, 1919. Serial No. 344,423.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN C. H. LUBKEN,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Westmont, inthe county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, (whose post-ofliceaddress is Johnstown, Pennsylvania,) have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Connecting Rails; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention,such as will enab e others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in uniting railway track rails andthe like, and

has for its objects the splicing and bonding of the adjacent ends of tworails. N

' Heretofore when comparatively short rail bonds have been used toconnect the adjacent ends of two rails and particularly the flangeportions thereof, ordinary flat splice bars have been used whichpermitthe edges of the flanges to project outwardlytherefrom, and holes may bedrilled or burned in said flanges when said flat splice bars are inplace and the terminals of the bonds secured therein. Such flat splicebars, however are not as strong as the rails and 'a pair of angle barsniakes'a very much better and stronger joint. The flanges of the anglebars, however, cover the top of the surface of the .rail flanges in sucha way that the rail flanges are inaccessible below them. With the highcost of copper or other rail bonds, it is desirable to use as short aone as possible for the sake of economy and in mines and similarlocalities a bond located beneath the flange of the rail is in a muchmore protected position so that I prefer to locate my rail bond belowthe edges of the outwardly projecting rail flanges, the connections ofthe terminals of said bonds being quite close to the joint between thetwo adjacent rails, thus making a short and economical bond.

To make a strong joint I also use an angle bar and in order to allow thebond to be placed or replaced readily, I bend up pore tions of the lowerflange of the angle bar,

leaving said flange, however, integral in such a way'as not to impairits strength and thus I give access to the rail flanges at two places sothat the holes can be drilled or burned therethrough and the bondinserted either by compressing, welding or fusmg the same in position,while the angle bar 1s in position.

If the rail flanges-.are to be drilled in place, I prefer to drill themfrom the bottom upward, and there is ample room forthis in the thicknessof the tie, ora small amount of ballast can be scooped out to allow aratchet drill to be inserted below the rail flange and operated. If theholes are to be Patented Apr. 12, 1921. I

burned in the flange, I can readily project" the flame of an acetyleneor electric burner against the edge of the flange in the recess formedby the up-bent flange of the splice bar and burn a. hole or notch in, itto receive the rail bond. Ofcourse, these bond holes may also be drilledor punchedat the shop before the tails are laid in place, which willthus obviate the necessity of any such field work. I

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, inorder to make thesame more clear, refer to the accompanying sheet ofdrawings, annexed to this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation through a railwith an le splice bars and a rail bond attached to tie flange splicebars are secured to the rail ends 1 by means of the usual bolts 4. Ihesplice bar 3 as originally rolled is similar to the s lice bar 2, buthas formed in its base a'ng'e a pair of upwardly bent portions or arches5 providing openings or spaces 6 between the base flan e of the splicebar and the top surface of t e base flanges of the rails at which pointthe holes 7 are formed in the base flanges of the rail ends by punching,drilling, fusing, or otherwise. By reason of the bent-up portions orarches 5 in the splicebars, access is given to the upper surface'of therail flange, thus readily allowing the holes to be formed therein andthe bond secured within said holes in any desired manner. 8 indicatesthe cable of the bond having end terminals 9 with plugs which areinserted in the holes Tandsecured to the base flanges of the rails as at10 by .rai ls as at 15, to allow the plugs of the bond In Fig. 4 I haveshown a modification in which the base flange ll of the rail is notchedas at 12 and the splice bar 13 1s bent up as at 14 and notched at 16 andspaced apart from the base flange of the terminals to be more easilysecured in position.

In carrying out my invention I first make the holes or notches throughthe base flanges near the ends of each of the rails at the desiredpoints by means of a punch, drill, electric arc, gas torch. or othermeans, and I then insert the plugs of the bond terminals in said holesand rivet, expand, fuse or weld the ends thereof to the base flanges ofthe rails beneath the arched or bent-up portions of the base flange ofthe splice bar.

When laying newtrack I may make the bond connection before the splicebfirIS are put in place, but after the track is laid and the splice barsbolted up firmly, it is very difficult to replace them as the boltsbecome.

rusted or secured very firmly in position and frequently it is found inmines or other damp locations that the splice bars cannot be removedwithout destroying them or their bolts. With my splice bars 3, however,provided with the upwardly extending portions 5 forming arches, space isprovided to give access to the rail flange and either new bonds can beplaced in location after the splice bars are installed or the bonds canbe removed without removing the splice bars, all of which tends to easeand economy of'construction. The fact that I can use a very short bondalso is very useful and economical.

Other'prior types of bonds have been secured in the webs of the railssomewhat removed from the ends of the splice bar,

which requires the use of a very long bond and said bond lies upon thetops of the ties adjacent to the track and is' frequently cut anddestroyed when a car or a number of them are derailed and the wheelflanges pass over said bond. My bond is short and located beneath theflanges of the rails andis absolutely protected from such destruction,besides which the ends of the bonds are at all times accessible forinspection, repair or replacement. While the average joint would requirethe use of only one of my special bars and one bond, it is to bedistinctly understood that two .of my splicebars may be used at a joint,thus permitting the use of two bonds to insure suflicient electricalconductivity if one bond is not enough.

Although I have referred to forming holes in the rail flanges to receivethe bond terminals, I may dispense with such previously formed holes andfuse or weld the bond terminals directly to or into the surface of therail, as will be readily understood.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerabledetail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific detailsthereof, as shown and described, but may use such modifications in,substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within thescope of my invention, or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. The combination with the end portions of a pair ofabutting rails of an angle splice bar secured thereto, a portion of theflange of said splice bar being bent upwardly to expose a part of therail flange.

2. In a rail joint, an angle splice bar, an integral portion of thelower flange of which is removed from the rail flange thereby providingaccess thereto.

3. In a rail joint, an angle splice bar, a

portion of the flange of which is spaced bars, at least one of which isan angle splice with parts of the lower flange portion bent upwardlyaway from the rail flanges thereby providing access to said railflanges; and an electrical bond, the terminals of which are secured tosaid rail flanges at the exposed portions thereof.

6. A rail joint comprising a pair of splice bars,'at least one of whichis an angle splice with a lower flange, integral parts of said lowerflange being bent upwardly away from. the rail flanges to provide accessthereto, a rail bond provided with terminals inserted within holes inthe rail flanges below said bent-up portions and secured to the rails bymeans operating within the space between the bent-up flange of thesplice bar and the rail flanges.

7. A rail joint comprising a pair of an gle bars secured thereto,portions of the lower flange of one of said bars being bent jacent tothe bent-up portions of said splice get gear bar flange and fused orwelded therein by means operating within the spaces between the splicebar flange and the rail flanges.

8. In a rail joint, an angle splice bar provided with an upwardly bentportion having anotch in the edge thereof, a rail below the same havinga notch adapted to receive the terminal of an electric bond, and a bondsecured within the notch of said rail, said upwardly bent portionproviding a space whereby access may be had to said terminal.

9. In a rail joint, a pair of splice bars, arches in the flange of oneof the splice bars and a bond having its terminals attached to theflanges of the rails beneath the arches in the splice bar.

10. In a rail joint, an angle spllce bar with arches in the flangethereof, and a bond with ends fused or welded to the rail flange on eachside of the joint at points under the said arches.

11. The method of bonding a railjoint provided with an angle splice, atleast-one of the angle bars having arches in the flange thereof, therebyexposlng portions of the upper surfaces of the rail flan es; whichconsists in forming an opening t rough the base of the flange of eachrail under said arches, inserting terminal plugs of a rail bond in saidopenings, and then fusing or welding said terminal plugs to the railflanges.

.12. The method. of bonding a rail joint provided with an anglesplicebar having arches in the flange thereof which provide spacesbetween said flange and the upper surfaces of the rail flanges; whichconsists in forming openings through the portions of the rail flangesunder said arches, inserting the terminal plugs of a railbond in saidopenings, and then fusing or welding said terminal plugs to said realflanges by heat applied through the openings adjacent to said arches.

13. The method of bonding a rail joint provided with a pair of anglesplice bars, the flange of; one of said splice bars having bent-up orarched portions, thereby expos ing portions of the rail flangescomprising ,fusing an opening in each-of the rail flanges.

by means operating in the spaces between the flange of the splice barand-the rail flanges, and then welding the ends of a bond to the flangeof each rail within the openings formed in the rail flan es.

. 14:. The method of onding the meeting ends of rails, which consists insplicing the ends of the rails by means of a pair of splice bars, one ofsaid splice bars having a base flange with bent-up or arched portions,melting an opening through the flange of each rail beneath the bent-upor arched portions ot the splice bar, inserting the ends of a rail bondin the openings thus formed, and then welding the ends of the bond tothe flange of each rail within the openings formed therein.

15. The method of bonding the meeting ends of rails, which consists insplicing the ends of the rails by means of a pair of splice bars, one ofsaid splice bars having a base flange with bent-up or arched portions,melt.- ing an opening through the base flange of each rail beneath thebent-up or arched portions of the splice bar, inserting the plugs of theterminals of a rail bond in the openrail, and then welding the plugs ofthe terminals of the bond to the flange of each rail within the openingstherein.

-16. The method of bonding the meeting ends of rails which consistsinsplicing the ends of the rails by means of a pair of splice bars, oneof said splice bars having a base flange with two bent-up or archedportions, melting an opening through the base flange of each railbeneath the bent-up or arched portions of the splice bar, attachingarail bond to the underside of the base flanges of the rails byinserting the plugs of the terminals of the rail bond in the openingsthus formed in the base flange of each rail, and then welding the plugsof the bond terminals within said openings and to said flanges. V

17. The method of applying rail bonds to a rail joint having an anglebar splice;

compnsing providing spaces between the rail flanges and the angle flangeadjacent to the bond terminals and securing said terminals to the railflanges by means operating within said spaces.

In witness whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

JOHN @511. LUBKEN.

